Senior officials quit in WA election farce

WA’s Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn and Electoral Officer Peter Kramer have resigned following the 1370 lost Senate votes that will force West Australians back to the polls.

In a statement late on Friday, Special Minister of State, Michael Ronaldson, said that Mr Kramer had tendered his resignation to the Governor General. Earlier, after the resignation of Mr Killesteyn, Mr Ronaldson said the Australian Electoral Commission “must regain the confidence of the community".

“The government will, in due course, announce a new Electoral ­Commissioner who will be charged with the restoration of that confidence," he said.

The government had publicly and privately expressed frustration at the AEC for triggering a second Senate election in WA so early in its term, after the High Court declared the recounted results void on Thursday.

Liberal Party insiders are conceding they are in danger of losing the key third seat in the race, which could weaken the government’s hold on the upper house after July 1.

On Friday, Prime Minister
Tony Abbott
fired the opening salvo in the campaign, signalling the government would seek to capitalise on the unpopularity of Labor taxes in the mining-dominated state.

“The carbon tax and mining tax are anti-West Australian taxes," he said.

“We support WA and we best support WA by getting rid of these taxes and that means voting for Coalition candidates."

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Based on initial results from the 2013 federal election, the coalition would have had 33 seats in the Senate by July 1, to Labor and the Greens’s 35, with eight crossbenchers holding the balance of power.

A recount of initial results from that election gave the Liberal Party three Senate seats in WA, with one each for Labor, the Greens, and the Australian Sports Party.

If the Coalition now loses its third Senate seat in WA, leading to a distribution of two Liberal, three Labor or Green, and one minor party senator, the balance of power in the Senate would shift slightly.

In that case, Labor and the Greens would only need the assistance of two votes from the crossbench to block the government’s agenda in the upper house.

“Behind the scenes Liberals know the third spot is a fight," said one Liberal Party source. “Even though it’s a Senate byelection, it really comes down to the race for that third seat."

Labor will run a campaign similar to that which secured its re-election in the Brisbane seat of Griffith, focusing on federal issues such as Medicare and disaffection with the Liberal state Premier, in this case
Colin Barnett
.

The role of minor parties and their preferences will be crucial, in a race that could have more than 60 candidates.

Political consultant Glenn Druery, known as the preference whisperer for his success in the election of several micro party senators at the 2013 federal election, estimates he may once again work with up to 30 parties in the new race.

WA Premier
Colin Barnett
, in co-operation with the state’s governor, Mr Ronaldson and Mr Abbott, are yet to decide a date for the election to be held.Palmer United Party federal leader Clive Palmer has called for a parliamentary investigation into the Australian Electoral Commission following the resignation of Mr Killesteyn